Better Late Than Never
by SoraChiistar
Summary: Arthur has lived his whole life in a orphanage, but now he finally leaves to live with his unknown brothers. Can they really become a family after having missed so much? Fail summary is fail. Just read to see if you like it!
1. Chapter 1

**Okay then. This is my second fic, and though the other one hasn't ended yet, I am sort of stuck with it now.. And then all kinds of other ideas started to form in my head and I just couldn't stop myself from writing it. XD Okay, so this is more like a prologue that the actual story. Also, I really have no idea where I'm going with this I just HAD to write it...**

**Err... There probably won't be any yaoi and/ore shounen-ai in this, but since I have no idea where I'm going with this I can't be sure. O_O**

**And just to make the characters a little more clear: (from eldest to youngest)**

**Iain – Scotland**

**Liam – Ireland**

**Nullan – Northern Ireland**

**Gwydion – Wales**

**Arthur – England (but I guess that's kind of obvious)**

Arthur's childhood had not been an easy one. In fact, it was a very, very hard one. Now, you might say that every childhood is filled with hardships, and that they are just unavoidable. And yes, that is correct. However, Arthur's life was different.

No matter how different it was, it's beginning was the same as every life's beginning. In this case, everything started in a normal room, in a normal hospital, somewhere in a normal town, in England.

In this room, a woman who seemed to be in her mid-thirties was giving birth to little Arthur. Arthur had been born two weeks earlier then he was predicted to be, but other than that he was a perfectly healthy little boy. However, as a new life was just beginning an other one was ending. Giving birth for the fifth time had weakened Arthur's mother's body to the point that her life was in danger. The doctors tried everything they could, but everything was not enough. She passed away.

This left Arthur's father in great distress. His beloved wife had died, and now he had to take care of his five fairly young sons all by himself. He was worrying so much that he couldn't sleep at night, yet he had to go to work. He needed the money to take care of his children. After a week without any good rest he was completely exhausted. He got into his car after work without knowing that he would never get out. There was an accident, and again a life ended.

The five Kirkland boys were now all alone. They were in the hands of the government now, and the government decided they should be put in a orphanage. Luckily, the government wasn't as heartless as you'd think they would be and all boys were placed into the same orphanage. However, they knew there wouldn't be any family that could adopt five boys. The feared the worst. Te boys would eventually be separated.

Iain was the eldest Kirlkland brother and tried to take care of his little brothers as good as possible, but he knew it wouldn't last long. After two weeks, a young couple came by. They were unable to have children so they wanted to adopt a child. They were searching for a boy around the age of five. Liam, the second eldest brother, was exactly what they were looking for. Soon after, Nullan and Gwydion got adopted as well. Iain and Arthur were the only ones left behind, but by the time Arthur's first birthday came around, Iain was adopted as well. Three years passed, and Arthur was still in the orphanage. There were some people that wanted to adopt him, but being a four year old, Arthur could now make his own decisions. He had lived in the orphanage for as long as he could remember, and was afraid to leave. He would scream, bite an throw things. Anything to prevent being taken away from the orphanage. Maybe he would leave if he knew he had four brothers, but no one ever told him.

Living in an orphanage meant constant competition. This means that every kid tried to beat evryone and be the best at everything. After all, if you wanted to be adopted you had to stand out. Arthur didn't want to stand out. He was quiet and didn't have many friends. Of course, this caused him to get bullied. His social skills got underdeveloped comparing to the other kids and eventually he became a loner. By the time he was nine the other kids stopped bullying and left him alone. Arthur had become a true loner. He would always play by himself or even talk to imaginary friends.

Seven years passed this way. Seven years that had felt like an eternity. Being a sixteen year old that lived in a orphanage made him feel stupid, but he was planning on leaving there once he turned seventeen.

But now he was standing here. In front of a closed front door. A suitcase on the ground next to him. He stood in front of some house in a neighborhood he had never seen before. In fact, he wasn't even in England right now, but in America. He had never expected that there was a family that actually wanted him to live with them. Seeing this as a good chance to leave the orphanage before turning seventeen, he had taken the offer. The family had sent him a ticket to fly over, and now he was here.

He took a deep breath and looked around. He could still go ba-

"No." He said determinedly. He faced the door and stared at it. "This is it." He swallowed. "Beter late than never."

And so, he rang the doorbell.

**Whahahaa! Thank you for reading^^ Byezies, and reviewzies! (Hah, I love how dumb that sounds *_*)**


	2. Chapter 2

When ringing the bell, Arthur had lots of expectations, and yet he had none. Of course he had some ideas of what an average family looked like from tv, but he also knew that it wouldn't be the perfectly normal family if they wanted to adopt a sixteen-year-old. He waited for someone to answer the door and almost wanted to ring again when suddenly the door swung open. Before him stood a tall, young man who looked to be in his early twenties. The man eyed him from head to toe before saying something.

"What do you want?" He asked in an Irish accent.

"Well erm.." Arthur started nervously. "I came here to-"

Before he could finish his sentence the door was slammed shut in his face. Arthur blinked, and then realized what just happened. He started to panic as he thought of all the possibilities of why the man had closed the door. Was this the wrong adres? Had the family moved? Didn't they want him anymore? Had there been some misunderstanding? Was he not what the people expected him to be?

Slowly he reached for the paper in his pocket whit the adres written on it. He checked it carefully and came to the conclusion that this was indeed the right house. What was he supposed to do now?

He stood there, desperately trying to think for a solution. Suddenly he heard some voices through an open window. He tried to hear what the voices were saying.

"Oi, Iain!" The same Irish voice yelled. "There's some kid at the door!"

"One of those annoying girl scouts again?"A Scottish accented voice asked annoyedly.

"No, its a lad. I guess he wants to sell us something."

There was an awkward silence before the Scottish voice spoke up again. "I told ye Arthur would be coming today right?"

"Oh yeah.. I forgot about that. He does look like the kid in the picture you showed me."

Again an awkward silence.

"DAMN IT LIAM, CAN'T YOU JUST LISTEN FOR ONCE!" Then here was the sound of someone being smacked against the back of his head. Right after that some footsteps were heard, and the door swung open again.

This time an even taller man stood in the doorway. His hair was fire-red, and he had the brightest pair of green eyes Arthur had ever seen. They almost seemed like his own, the shade of green was just a bit different. The man held out a hand and Arthur shook it politely.

"Ye must be Arthur." The man said smiling. "I am Iain."

"Ah, yes. Arthur Kirkland. Pleased to meet you." Arthur answered. It seems like he succeeded in hiding his nervousness. However, he failed to notice how Iain's smile got a bit wider at hearing his last name.

"Please come in." Iain said. He stepped aside so Arthur could enter the house.

Before he entered, Arthur tried to lift his suitcase off the ground but it was quite a struggle. The orphanage he had grown up in didn't have a lot of money, so they couldn't provide the kids with nutritious food that would make them grow up healthy. Fortunately, most kids only spent a few years in the orphanage, so their body wasn't really affected by the lack of nutrients. Arthur, however, was a different case.

"Ah, let me help ye with that." Said Iain as he lifted the suitcase of the ground with one arm. He carried it to the living room, and Arthur followed him.

"Well, make yerself at home." Iain said with a grin. "Since ye'll be living here anyway."

Arthur nodded and sat down on one of the large couches, trying to look calm and relaxed. He wasn't really used to dealing with people, especially not new people!

"Can I get ye something to drink?"

Arthur hesitated before answering. He didn't want to impose on them, but since he was going to live there anyway... "Yes, I'd like some tea please."

"Right, I'll make ye some." Iain started to make his way to the kitchen, but suddenly turned around. "Ye don't have to be so polite. After all, we're brothers now." He said grinning. He turned around and entered the kitchen.

_Right, brothers. _Arthur thought. _I am a part of this family from now on._

Arthur took the time to observe the house he was going to live in. The living room was very big. There were two expensive-looking couches, and one armchair. All of them were positioned to face a large flatscreen-tv on the wall. In the middle of them was a coffee table. To his left he could see Iain making tea in the kitchen. It made him feel a little guilty. Someone had worked really hard to pay all these things, and now he was just going to take advantage of that.

Arthur was still wondering why he deserved all of this, when Iain put the tea on the coffee table in front of him.

"Do ye like the house?" He asked.

Arthur jumped a little in surprise and quickly answered. "Yes! I's a lovely house!" He didn't look into Iain's eyes as it made him feel nervous.

Iain noticed this, laughed and ruffled Arthur's hair. "Well, I guess it's time for you to meet the others then." He said smiling. Suddenly his expression turned harsh, and his loud voice boomed trough the house.

"NULLAN, LIAM, GWYDION! GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE!"

It didn't take lone before three other young men entered the living room. Arthur recognized the the strawberry-blond man who had opened the door earlier. He was bickering with a auburn-haired man who had a very obvious Northern Irish accent, and there was another dark-haired one, who just followed behind looking sleepy. The bickering ones on the second couch, and the third in the armchair. Iain sat down next to Arthur and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. When the to fighting men didn't hear him he got annoyed and decided to use his voice.

"Oi! Stop fighting ye idiots! We got something important to talk about here!" He didn't scream as loud as he usually would, since he didn't want Arthur to tense up any more tan he already was.

The two stopped fighting and eyed Arthur curiously as if they just now noticed he was sitting there. The third one did the same.

"As ye all know," Iain started, "Arthur is going to live with us from now, so introduce yerself." He pointed at the one in the armchair. "Ye go first."

The man looked as if he was about to fall asleep, but responded anyway. "Hello. I'm Gwydion, nice to meet you." He said in a clear voice.

"Good." Iain said. "Now its your turn." He pointed at the strawberry-blond on the couch.

"Hi. My name is Liam." He said with a frown. He seemed annoyed for some reason.

Arthur wondered if he had done something to make him angry.

"Now ye." Iain said, looking at the auburn.

"Hello nice to meet you!" He said cheerfully. "I'm Nullan. How are you?" He asked with a broad smile.

"I'm fine, thanks." Arthur answered in a quiet voice. He was a bit relieved that at least Nullan seemed to be happy about his arrival.

"Now how about ye introduce yourself Arthur?"

"Erm, right." Arthur said nervously. "Nice ehm... Nice to meet you all. I will be living with you from now on. My name is Arthur Kirkland, by the way." He said looking at the ground. He could feels his face heat up.

Three pairs of eyes looked at him curiously as he said his last name.

"Kirkland, you said?" Liam asked, still frowning.

"Eh, yes."

Liam looked at Iain and lifted an eyebrow. "Could this be the reason you suddenly wanted to adopt him?"

Iain grinned. "Well, actually, I have been searching for him for years."

Arthur snapped his head up at hearing this and looked into Iain's eyes. "W-What do you mean?"

"Well, " He started. "Our last name is Kirkland as well."

Arthur's eyes widened. Did that mean he had family after all? Maybe these people were distant cousins or uncles.

Iain grinned. "Yer our youngest brother, Artie."

"B-brothers?" Arthur said. He was seriously wondering if his ears were betraying him. Had he heard it right? Brothers? How could that even be possible?

Iain looked Arthur in the eyes with a straight face. "Yes, Arthur. Brothers."

Arthur stared at Iain, thinking of something to say. Out of everything Iain could have said, he never expected this. He was trying his hardest to form a sentence in his mind, when his thoughts were interrupted.

"The hell are you talking about?" Liam said angrily, glaring at Iain. "I don't remember any fifth brother!"

Iain smirked. "_Ye_ don't remember, but I do. I've spent a year with him in the orphanage, but ye already got adopted after two weeks. I'm sure ye don't even remember the orphanage anymore."

"But.." Liam was at a loss for words. "But why didn't you ever tell u-"

"What does it even matter?" Gwydion said all of a sudden.

Everyone turned their attention to him.

"Iain never told us we had a fifth brother, but we know now right? So what does it even matter?" He said sleepily.

Arthur shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like how there was a conversation going on about him while he was sitting right there. "I.." He hestitated. He really wasn't used to speaking to so many people, but he raised his voice anyway. "I don't have to stay with you if it's too much of a problem! I can just... I can just go back to the orphanage." He hated the idea of having to go back there. He hated being alone everyday. But he didn't want to stay here and cause problems for these people. Brothers or not, he couldn't just barge into their lives like that.

"...What are you talking about?" Nullan spoke up. "No one ever said that."

"Damn straight. Ye think I did all that searching just to let ye go back there? Ye're staying with us!" Iain said.

"Fine, you can stay." Liam said, still looking angry.

The room was quiet for a while, when suddenly the silence was interrupted.

"Glad to have you here, Arthur." Gwydion spoke up. "Because now," He smirked "I'm no longer the youngest."

Liam laughed. "Hey, that's true! We could make him do all the chores now!"

Nullan laughed as well, but said something completely different. "Yeah, but I'd feel like a total jerk if we did that. I mean, look at him: He's so skinny he could break an arm by picking up a water bottle!"

"Why do you always ruin the fun?" Liam shouted, looking angry again.

"Huh? I'm not ruining anything. You're the one being an asshole here."

And so another fight between Liam and Nullan started.

Gwydion looked at Arthur. "They always do that. Don't bother with it." He said shaking his head as if saying: _These idiots..._

Iain on the other hand, had difficulty staying as calm. "SHUT UP YE TWO!"

The room silenced once again and Liam and Nullan stopped fighting. Liam just looked away angrily while Nullan smiled and apologized.

"Now then Arthur, ye must be tired from the trip here?" He asked with a kind smile.

Arthur just nodded.

"I'll show ye yer room then." Then suddenly he shot a death glare at the other three. "If ye dare to make noise, I swear to God it's not going to end up nice. Got that?"

The others nodded obediently while Iain picked up Arthur's suitcase and carried it upstairs. Arthur followed quietly and thought of all the things that had happened today. With so many special things, there was no way tomorrow could be even more interesting...

Right?

**I died.**

**Okaaay... I didn't die. But you thought I died right? How long ago did I upload the last chapter again? I don't even remember. But anyway, here you have chapter two! Did you like it? I know you didn't so don't lie. :( Everything just feels so rushed in the last part... But anyway. I'm not sure if I should continue this. I started writing this with just the concept of the orphan and his brothers. I don't know what to write next. Ideas? Tell me! Also I might actually write a side-story about Arthur going to a normal High School for the first time. But first.. Review please! If you don't review I'll make Russia sneak into your house at night, and hit you wit a pipe! Okay, he won't...**

**OR WILL HE? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Wooo! Chapter three already! I want to thank everyone who reviewed, story-alerted, favorited, or even just read this story^^ Special thanks to ****SilverFalkin118 for giving me some awesome ideas. The she/he is the only reason I updated so quickly this time, so you should thank her/him. Now let's move on, shall we?**

Iian woke up from his sleep in the middle of the night. He hadn't had a nightmare or anything, he just woke up somehow. His mouth felt incredibly dry, so he got up to drink some water. On the way back from the bathroom he passed Arthur's bedroom. He stood there, looking at the door for a while before opening it. He peaked through the opening and saw a small curled up form in the bed. It seemed like Arthur was fast asleep. He entered and softly closed the door behind him, trying not to make a sound. Once in the room, he walked over to the bed and sat down next to Arthur. He just looked at him for a while. Arthur looked so peaceful when he was asleep. Like an angel that had just descended from the heavens. He felt sad, knowing that Arthur had spent his complete childhood in loneliness, not knowing what it feels like to have a family. He wondered what had happened to him in all those years after he left. He tried to remember one of their days together in the orphanage.

_Iain was sitting on a chair at the long dining table with his baby brother sleeping in his arms. He was just looking around him. The best word to describe the whole situation, was boring. The orphanage didn't have many toys, so if you didn't find a way to entertain yourself you'd just have to sit down and stare at things, like Iain was doing now. On the other side of the room he saw some kids playing, but he didn't feel like playing with them. Most kids in the orphanage were very mean. Not that he was scared of them, but he fought with them more than often so hey didn't want to play with him either. It had been about a year since they came to the orphanage, so he hoped it wouldn't take long before he could leave the place. Just as he was thinking about how cool it would be if they were adopted by someone very rich, Sheila came walking in. Sheila was one of the women who worked in the orphanage. She was nice most of the time, you just had to make sure you followed her rules. _

"_Iian!" She called. "Are you here?"_

"_Yeah I'm here!" He yelled as he waved his hand at her._

"_Good." She smiled. "There are some people who want to talk to you."_

"_Why?" He asked curiously while looking at Arthur who was waking up now._

"_Why do you think?" She grinned widely. "To adopt you of course!"_

_Iian's face lit up. "Really?" He exclaimed. "That's great!" He got up and started walking with Arthur still in his arms. "That's great, right Artie? If they adopt us, maybe we can go searching for Liam, Nullan and Gwyn!" He said to his little brother, who just yawned in response._

"_Iain, wait. They only want to adopt you, dear."_

_Iain stopped and turned around to look at her. "What?"_

"_They only want to adopt you."_

_Iian looked at little Arthur and immediately walked back to the chair he was sitting. "I'm not leaving without Artie."_

_Sheila sighed. "That's fine, we can't force you. But at least listen to what they have to tell you."_

"_But if I'm not going with them anyway then why shou-"_

"_Iain." Her eyes narrowed. "Go talk to them. Now."_

_Iain swallowed before answering. "Yes, ma'am." He turned around and went to the room where people always met with the children they wanted to adopt, still holding on to Arthur. Once he came to the room he opened the door and walked in without knocking. He sat down in an armchair and sat Arthur on his lap. In front of him sat a middle-aged looking couple, smiling at him. The woman had blond hair that was tied up in a ponytail, and the man's hair was dark brown. _

"_Hello." The woman said kindly. "Ye must be Iain?" _

_Iain recognized her accent. She was clrearly Scottish. "Yes I am." He answered. "And this is Artie."_

_The woman smiled. "My name is Mairi Camshron, and this in my husband, Ewan Camshron." She looked at Arthur. "Are you taking care of him?"_

"_Yeah, he's my little brother, and I'm not leaving without him."_

_Mairi blinked. "Oh, that's a pity.." She looked a little disappointed. "We were hoping you could come with us, but we are both too busy to take care of children that young."_

_Ewan nodded. "Yes, indeed." He looked a little disappointed as well. Did these people really want Iain to live with them that badly?_

"_That's too bad." Iain shrugged. "Well, I should be going then." He got up and started walking away. _

"_Wait!" Ewan suddenly said. "I have an idea."_

_Iain stopped and turned around. "What is it?"_

"_What if you came with us, and by the time Arthur is about five or six, we will adopt him as well."_

_Iain looked at Arthur in his arms, and considered what Ewan had just said. He didn't want to stay in the orphanage, but he didn't want to leave Artie behind either. "But.. I can also just wait until there is someone who wants to adopt the both of us."_

_Mairi looked down. "But we **really **want you Iain, we have thought about this for a very long time. Besides, adopting two children at once is a huge change. The chance that someone will adopt the both of you is small."_

"_But.." Iain could feel the tears forming in his eyes. "But I don't want to leave Arthur alo-" before he could finish his sentence he was pulled into a hug by Mairi. She had knelt down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. He couldn't hug her back, because he was still holding Arthur. He closed his eyes and remembered the last time he had felt a hug like this. The day before Artie was born, the day before his mother died. That's when tears escaped his eyes. He desperately tried to keep them in. He was the eldest after all. He hadn't cried even once when their parents died, but now, with Mairi's arms around him, he realized just how much he missed his family. _

_Mairi wiped his tears away. "There's no need to cry, dear." She said with a comforting voice. "Ye don't have to come with us if ye don't want to."_

"_But-" Iain said between his sobs. "I do want to! But what about Arthur?"_

_Ewan kneeled down beside him. "Don't worry, we will come and get him in just a few years." He said with a comforting smile._

_Iain was fighting with himself now. Family or Arthur? But if he went with them, then Arthur could come live with them in a few years. Then they could be together with a family._

"_A-alright." Iain said while wiping his tears. "I'll come with you."_

_Mairi's and Ewan's faces lit up. They were almost jumping from happiness. Iain was standing there hugging his little brother. "Wait for me, Arthur. I promise I will come and get you. And when I do, I'm going to find the others as well and we'll be a family."_

_Unfortunately, the orphanage was planning to move to a different location. Even its name was going to be changed. Iain had searched and searched, but he couldn't find it. He thought that maybe all the children had been adopted, and that the orphanage didn't exist any longer. He kept himself satisfied with the idea that his youngest brother was living a happy life with some other family. When he turned eighteen and left home he started searching for his brothers. Somehow, he managed to find a way to track them all down._ And now they were here, living together in the same house. Iain closed his eyes and smiled to himself. He had finally fulfilled his promise. He stroke his hand through Arthur's blonde locks before getting up. "However, we're not done yet. I'll have to find a way to make all those years up to ye." He smiled and got up from the bed. He left the room quietly and turned around to make his way back to his own room, but he stopped when he was met by Nullan standing across the hallway.

Nullan grinned at him. "I wonder if I even want to know what you were doing in ther-" Before he could finish his sentence he was cut off by the back of Iain's right hand colliding with his left cheek. He took a step back and covered his cheek with his hand. "I was just joking!"

Iain shot him a death glare. It was the kind of glare that would make you want to run and hide in a closet for the rest of your life. "One more 'joke' and you won't live to see daylight again." He said in a cold tone.

Nullan swallowed. "Y-yes, sir."

Just as Iain started to walk away to his own room, a door opened and Gwydion stuck his head out the door..

"What's going on so late at night? I'm trying to sleep here." He said rubbing one of his eyes. Gwydion was a light sleeper. A normal conversation was enough to wake him up.

"Nothing unusual. Just Nullan being an idiot again." Iain replied coldly.

"Hey, that's mean! Like you're so perfect!" Nullan exclaimed.

"Shhh!" Said Gwydion as he pressed his index finger to his lips. "You're going to wake the others u-"

A door flew open, and a certain angry Irishman entered the hallway. "Shut. The. Hell. Up." He said, looking extremely pissed off.

"Says the guy who is only making the matter worse." Gwydion said while rolling his eyes. "You should have known that you and Nullan will start some kind of useless fight now."

Nullan started laughing. "That's so true! You really do always start fights, Liam!"

"He said _we, _okay? _We_ always fight, not just me!"

"But you're the one who always starts it."

"Because your idiotic face is always pissing me off!"

"Honestly, you are both just as annoying."

"Will you just stay out of it? Nullan and I are having a conversation here."

"_My _face looks idiotic? Have you ever even used a mirror before?"

"Can't you two just shut up already, so I can go back to sleep?"

"Tell Nullan that!"

"Why me? There was nothing going on before you just _had _to start a fight in the middle of the night."

"Nothing going on? Why do you think I came here in the first place?"

"Well, I don't know. Because you like to piss everyone off?"

"Hah! That should be my line!"

"No, honestly, you _both _are just as annoying."

"Like I said, Gwydion, Nullan and I are having a conversation here, so stop fucking joining in!"

"Can't you just shut up?"

"_You _shut up!"

"Well there already was a conversation going on _before _you came, so you're the one joining in here!"

Iain was just standing there, listening to probably the most useless fight ever, and he found it extremely annoying. "All of you should just-" They weren't listening to him. In fact, they probably didn't even hear him. His eyebrow twitched, and he took a deep breath. "ALL OF YE SHOULD JUST SHUT THEL HELL UP! IT'S NIGHT, FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

The three brothers silenced and just looked at Iain. Hey had experienced him screaming like that many times before, but it never stopped being scary as hell. Suddenly, the sound of an opening door filled the silence, and their long-lost little brother appeared.

"What's going on here?" He asked in a sleepy voice.

Liam, Nullan and Gwydion all turned to Iain and said in unison: "Iain, you woke Artie up."

After that, they all quickly retreated to their rooms, not wanting to see Iain explode.

**And that was chapter three^^ Now, I shall proceed to clear some things up. **

**The brother's current ages:  
>Iain 23, Liam 21, Nullan 20, Gwydion 18, Arthur 16.<strong>

**Their age when they entered the orphanage:  
>Iain 7, Liam 5, Nullan 4, Gwydion 2, Arthur one week or so (O_O)<strong>

**As for their appearance, I once saw a picture on Zerochan of Enland's brothers, and somewhere in the comments it said who was who. I'm not sure if that was correct, but now I can't stop imagining N. Ireland with auburn hair, and Ireland strawberry blond-ish. This is the picture: www . zerochan . net / 227576 (just remove the spaces) So, in my idea they are standing like this: N. Ireland - Scotland –Ireland. I know most people like to think of the two Irelands as red heads, but yeah... I'm just used to them like this. *_* And for Wales... I'll search for a picture that looks like how I imagine him. Now, I hope you enjoyed my story, and please review! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Dear Everyone,

I'm sorryyyyyyy! Seriously, I don't know how long ago it is that I updated this, but it's been long. I'm EXTREMELY busy, and when I'm not, I'm just lazy. =_= I admit...  
>I hope you will forgive me, but if you don't, I completely understand.<p>

But let's get to the point now, huh? The main reason why I uploaded this, is because there must be a lot of people who think I won't update this story anymore. But, I _promise _you, that I will keep uploading this (for now). It might take a while, it might not. Who can tell? I need your help though. What do you want to see in this story? Ideas? I sort of have an idea for the next chapter, but what after that? Pleeeaaase help me out? Any suggestion is fine, really :)

Anyway, I don't know when I will update again, but I definitely will. Until then, may the force be with you.

-SoraChiistar

P.S. This also counts for my other story, _Creatures of the Night._


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everone! It's me, SoraChiistar! It's been quite a while, huh? I can explain why this took me so long, but long story short: I was busy and lazy.**

**Now, Let's get back to business!**

When Arthur awoke the next morning, he didn't open his eyes right away. Instead, he kept his eyes closed and noticed something felt very different then it usually did. Wasn't one of the ladies who worked in the orphanage supposed to have pulled him out of his bed already? Had they finally given up on him? Well, that was about time than. When he finally opened his eyes there was only one thought that came to his mind.

"Where am I?" He asked himself sleepily. His mind responded by showing him a short flashback of what had happened the day before.

"Oh, right. Of course." He answered his mind as soon as he remembered the new situation. Suddenly an idea stuck him. What if he made his new family members breakfast, to show how thankful he was? Sure, he had never really cooked before in the orphanage, but he had seen how it was done more than often. Also, how hard could making breakfast be? He could even try to make one of his favourite things to eat: Scones.

He quickly got up, tip-toed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash himself. Once back in his room, he opened his suitcase to get dressed. He normally thought his clothes were fine, but looking at them now they all seemed so worn and old. He quickly put on something and looked at himself a mirror. He frowned at his reflection.  
>"Maybe I should buy some new clothes.. But where will I get the money?" Just the thought of asking his new family for money made him feel bad. The had already given him so many things! Thanks to them he was able to live in this beautiful house, and sleep in a comfortable bed. He shook his head. No, if he wanted to buy clothes he would just have to search for a job. Until then, these clothes would do. He made his way down to the kitchen, and looked inside the cupboards for ingredients and cooking utensils. Once he had found everything, he smiled to himself.<br>"Yeah, I think this will work out."

By the time his scones were in the oven he heard a phone ring. The ringing noise came from the living room. It didn't sound like a cellphone, so it must have been the home telephone. Should he answer it? After all, he lived here now. He hesitated. On the other hand it felt a bit rude to go around acting like you've lived here all our life. But what if it was something important? He decided that he would just have to answer to find out. He walked over to the living room and say a phone on a little side table next to the couch. He nervously picked it up, and reminded himself to be as polite as possible.

"Good morning, Kirkland residence." He spoke. It wasn't as if he really had an expectation, but he at least expected an answer. In stead, he heard nothing. He waited for a few moments more before putting the phone back. He shrugged and went back to the kitchen.

~In the Mean Time~

Liam was rudely awoken by two hands shaking him. He opened his eyes to look right into his younger brother's smiling face.  
>"Nullan, what the fuck do you think you are do-" He was interrupted by Nullan's hand being shoved into his face.<p>

"Shhh... If you are so loud, Artie will hear us."

Liam quickly considered how bad it would be if they woke up their new brother. Or more specifically, what Iain would do to them if they did that. "Okay, okay, I won't wake him. Now what are you doing here?" He whispered angrily.

"Oh he's already awake." Nullan grinned. "And now he's cooking something."  
>Liam raised an eyebrow, but then smirked. He knew exactly where this was going. "I suppose you want to play a prank on him?"<p>

Nullan nodded. "Exactly."  
>It's not as if this came out of nowhere to Liam. He and Nullan always played pranks on Gwydion, simply because there was no one else. Yes, they could try on on Iain, but that would be the same as commiting suicide in their opinion, so Iain was out of the question. But now that Arthur was here, they could finally have some variety in their targets. They started discussing their plans. They didn't dislike Arthur or anything, but it would be completely against their personalities to just let him off without pranking him at least once. Not like they were going to leave it to just once though. They just had to make sure Iain wouldn't find out. Eventually, it all came down to this: They would go downstairs, distract him, and mess up his food. It was a simple plan really, but hey, it was their first time playing a prank on Arthur, so they would get less merciful over time. Arthur also reminded them somewhat of a puppy, and no one would enjoy kicking a puppy. That would be way too sad. You have to make sure the puppy gets used to it at first. Okay, that might have been a bad example.. What it came down to, they didn't kick puppies, but they did want to play pranks on Arthur.<p>

They quietly made their way downstairs, and looked at Arthur from behind a wall. Arthur had just put something in the oven. Nullan looked at Liam and nodded. Liam nodded back. He grabbed his cell phone and called their home telephone number. Soon after, the phone in the living room started ringing. They both kept an eye on Arthur as they could see him hesitate whether he should pick up the phone or not. He seemed to have decided to pick up, as he walked over to the phone and answered.  
>"Good morning, Kirkland residence."<p>

Of course, Liam wasn't stupid enough to answer. Arthur would either recognize his voice, or he would hear Liam was standing almost right behind him. Instead, Liam remained silent.  
>Nullan quickly entered the kitchen and set the oven's temperature to maximum. After doing so, he quickly and soundlessly made his way out. Soon after, Arthur entered. He didn't seem to have noticed anything, so he just returned to cooking. Nullan and Liam smiled to eachother, and went back upstairs in silence<p>

~In the Mean Time~

Gwydion was woken up by the sound of Liam's voice. He sighed. He always hated the fact he slept so lightly. Especially with a family like his. The Kirkland-brothers were loud enough to awake a Snorlax without a Poké flute*. He could never have a decent night of sleep. He stayed in bed for a while, until he realized he wasn't going to fall asleep anymore. Oh well, he might as well get up now. He left his room to brush his teeth. Once in the hallway, he noticed something strange. That strange thing being, Liam and Nullan creeping down the stairs. He raised his eyebrows, what was going on here?

_Don't tell me they want to prank Arthur. _

He thought to himself, already knowing they wouldn't dare to try pranking Iain. Unless of course it was one of those extremely rare days, when Iain was in an extremely good mood. But, like I said, those were extremely rare, so he just assumed they were going to play a prank on Arthur. He silently followed behind them. Liam and Nullan hid behind a wall so they could see the kitchen. Gwydion quickly slipped past them without making a sound, and hid behind a couch in the living room. He peered over the back of the couch to see what the two were doing. He could see them look into the kitchen and nod at each other. Too bad he couldn't see into the kitchen from where he was. Liam grabbed his cell phone, and dialed a number. He didn't even bother bringing the phone to his ear. As soon as the phone on the side table next to him rang, he knew what was going on. Arthur was cooking something in the kitchen, and they were going to mess with his food. He sighed, and shook his head. Weren't those two ever going to grow up? Suddenly he could see Arthur walking over to answer the phone. He mad himself as small as possible to make sure he wouldn't be seen by either Liam, Nullan or Arthur. That's right, he didn't want to be seen by Arthur, because even he wanted to know how this was going to turn out. Not like he would play pranks himself. He just took advantage of the two Irish idiots' actions, so he could enjoy them as well. At least, that's what he was going to do, now he finally wasn't the target. Suddenly an idea stuck him. He needed to film this. He reached for his cellphone in the pocket of his dark blue dressing gown, and filmed the whole situation. Nullan and Liam hiding behind the wall and Arthur walking over to answer the phone.  
>"Hello, Kirkland residence." Arthur spoke.<p>

Gwydion turned his head to see Nullan quickly entering the kitchen. Of course, he didn't forget to film it. He couldn't see what Nullan was doing there, but he couldn't have done a lot, since he left almost immediately after. In the mean time, Liam didn't answer the phone, which caused Arthur to hang up soon after answering. Arthur went back into the kitchen, and Liam and Nullan silently went back upstairs.

Gwydion stopped the recording and smirked, who knew what this could be used for? He also retreated to his room upstairs, and not long after that, Arthur did the same to read a book he had taken with him from the orphanage in his room while waiting for the scones to bake.

Iain walked home from the grocery store with a few full shopping bags in his hands while whistling a cheerful tune. Somehow he felt like he was in an extremely good mood today. And those days were rare. When he had gotten up from bed, he immediately decided he should go and buy some healthy foods for Arthur. Because the boy was so.. Skinny... And short and... Basically not very healthy for someone his age. And judging from his brothers he knew it wasn't a family-thing. Maybe if Arthur started eating more nutritious things now, he could change that? After all, Arthur was only sixteen. He still had time to grow, right? Right.

He arrived at his house and put down his shopping bags to search for the keys in his pockets.

_Ah, there they are. _He thought as he found them. He opened the door and entered the house. Just as he closed the door behind him, he noticed something strange. Something smelt weird. Almost like something.. _Burnt. _ He quickly entered the living room, and followed his nose to the kitchen where he saw black smoke coming from the oven.

_Wha-? _Was all he really thought as he turned off the oven, grabbed some oven mitts that were lying around and put them on. He opened the oven to take out the burnt clumps of... _Something_, and placed then on the counter. He sighed. His mood was way to good for this today, and he didn't feel like screaming, but that was the easiest way to solve this right now.. So he took a deep breath and:

"EVERYONE GET DOWN HERE NOW!" He yelled with his booming voice.

Not long after, the five brothers were seated in the living room all looking quite smug. Well... Except for Arthur, who was nervously fiddling with his sleeves, pulling on them until you could only see his fingertips.

Iain was in his extremely good mood, so he couldn't say he was angry about all this. "Okay, who of you was trying to bake those... Things?"

Arthur nervously raised a hand. "Ehm, I-I was."

Iain looked at him with a soft expression. "And you do know you could have burnt the house down?"

"Y-yes." Arthur nodded. "I didn't notice I put the oven on the wrong temperature, I-I'm sorry."

"That's fine." Iain answered. "But maybe you should just leave cooking to someone else from now on. You don't really have the... Talent for it."

No matter how kind Iain had meant this statement to be, to Arthur it was a punch in the face. Even if he hadn't really cooked before, he had read lots of recipes and had watched people cook countless times. This had made him quite confident.

"Actually," Gwydion suddenly said. "Actually, that's not how it went."

Iain turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I just said." Gwydion answered confidently. "The truth is, those two idiots over there messed with the oven when Arthur wasn't looking, so his.."

"Scones." Arthur said dryly.

"Ah, yes. S_cones_, would burn."

Arthur could somehow feel himself heat up inside. Yes, he might be shy and therefore quiet, but that most certainly didn't mean that he couldn't get angry. In fact, everyone on the orphanage new he was very easily angered so they usually left him alone. And the fact that someone messed with his cooking made him _very _angry.

Iain looked at Liam and Nullan. "Is this true?"

"You can't just accuse us of that!" Nullan exclaimed. "You don't even have prove!"

"Yeah," Liam said. "Arthur just can't cook for shit!"

Arthur's blood was seriously staring to boil now, but he tried to hide his anger as much as he could.

Gwydion showed Iain the video he had made this morning. After having watched the video, Iain looked at liam and Nullan, and then at Arthur.

_Now he is going to explode like he did yesterday, and those bastards will get what was coming for them! _Was All Arthur could think, but he still hid his anger.

"Well," Iain said. He looked at Arthur, who didn't seem very angry or upset about it. He was in a good mood anyway, so if it didn't matter to Arthur he could just let it slide. "-just don't do it again, okay?"

That was all that was needed for Arthur's anger to flow over, and make him explode like a bomb. "WHAT?" He yelled as the others stared at him. He pointed at Liam and Nullan. "These two bastards ruined my sign of gratefulness to you all, and you just let hem off like that?"

"Who are you calling bastards?" Nullan yelled as he stood up.

Arthur stood up as well. "You, you bloody git! Can't you see you and your idiotic brother ruined everything?"

That's where Liam joined the conversation. "Well, too bad for you, fucking brat, 'cause I'm your brother as well now!"

"Yeah, and how I wish you weren't"

"One day after you arrive, and this is how you treat your new family?"

"One day after I arrive, and this is how you treat your new brother?"

"Well, for your information, we are not the ones living in your house here are we?"

"Oh, like I wanted to come here so badly!"

And the verbal fight went on and on and on... Iain and Gwydion could only sit and stare at Arthur.

"Well, it seems like he's a Kirkland after all, huh?"

"Yeah." Answered Iain, smiling. "It makes me happy to see he is already getting accustomed to us."

Gwydion just nodded and smiled.

Iain was starting to get enough of the annoying fight right before his eyes. "SHUT UP NOW, OR ELSE I'LL MAKE YE EAT ONE OF THOSE 'SCONES'!

***Snorlax:**

**Pokémon that cannot be woken up without a Pokéflute.**

**Pokémon reference yeah!~**

**Aaahh... Last part feels kinda rushed... But I _really _wanted to upload this today, and I'm just soo tired right now. I don't have the energy to make something better out of it. This chapter sucks, I know.. I'll try to do something better when I can. Summer vacation is getting closer, so you can expect a quicker update. However, I will promise nothing! Thank you so much for sticking with me, and you will hear from me!**

**-SoraChiistar**


	6. Chapter 6

**Well, it's been ages and ages.**

**HA, told'ya I wouldn't let this down? **

It was a lovely peaceful and quiet morning at the Kirkland house. The birds were singing in the backyard and a few rainbow coloured butterflies were silently fluttering from flower to flower, as the sun was slowly raising higher and higher in the sky.

I'm sure you must have noticed what's wrong with this situation by n-

"BANG!"

Aah, there it is.

"What the fuck was that!?"

The signal for a normal day to start.

"AAGH! FIRE!"

No, the Kirkland brothers aren't exactly known to be quiet and peaceful.

"What's going on down there!?"

In fact,

"LIAM, NULLAN! DID YOU DO SOMETHING AGAIN?!"

It's the exact other way around.

"We didn't do anything! I swear!"

Well, why don't we just get started with the story now?

Arthur was downstairs in the kitchen, desperately trying to distinguish the fire on the stove.

_Why did it suddenly catch on fire?!_

He thought.

_It must have been that blasted Liam and Nullan again._

He was so angry he started yelling at the first person who came downstairs, which happened to be Gwydion. He pointed at the pan on the stove with the flames still in it.

"Look at what your stupid brothers have done this time!"

Gwydion looked at the burning... Supposed food and thought about what Arthur had just said. Had Liam an Nullan pranked him again? If it had been them, wouldn't he have heard it? He had clearly seen it the other day, but he had some doubts this time... Maybe Arthur was just a really bad cook? Before he could come to a conclusion, something caught his eye. Arthur had filled a glass of water and was about to throw it in the pan. He probably didn't know that would create a huge flame.

"NO!" Gwydion yelled, and he hit the glass out of Arthur's hands just when he was about to throw it. He didn't really think about how he hit the glass, as long as the water wouldn't get in the pan. However, he did manage to have all the water poured over Arthur, who was starting to panic now.

He could hear the others walking down the stairs, and he knew there would be a fight again. He sighed. _Can't we ever have a peaceful morning? _That was a rhetorical question of course. He knew quite well that the answer was no. At least not any time soon... He knew he had to act soon if he wanted to prevent a fight. He quickly put a lid on the pan, and pushed Arthur toward the front door and outside.

"Why don't you just go take a walk to cool down?" ...No pun intended.

"B-but I'm still wet an-"

Gwydion quickly closed the door without letting him finish his sentence. Now, what was he going to tell the others?

Arthur stood outside, and stared at the closed door in front of him. He felt kind of irritated for just being shoved outside like this. He huffed, and started walking along the pavement. The neighbourhood was actually pretty nice, and he forgot about his anger soon enough. Not that that stopped him from scowling of course. Scowling was just his second nature. Soon he passed a little basketball field where a boy was practicing by himself. He didn't pay much attention to it, but at one point, something hard hit the back of his head which got him out of balance, and he fell face first on the ground.

"WHAA-"

The sound of his scream muffled away when his face hit the ground. Next to him he could hear a strange noise that somehow reminded he of a snake. Was it a snake? It sounded more like something between a snake and someone's laugh in.

_Well, that's a hell of a weird laugh then._

"Kesesesese!"

He looked up, and saw that he was right. The boy that was practicing basketball just now was now laughing at him in his face.

"What's your problem, gitface!"

"Sorry, it's just that you looked so funny when you fell! Kesese!"

The boy stuck out his hand and helped Arthur get up. Now Arthur was standing up, he had a much better look of the boy. Is appearance was strange, but not in a bad way. He was just about a few inches taller than Arthur. His hair was silvery white, his eyes crimson red and his skin was very white as well.

_Albino. _

Was the first word Arthur thought of. He almost forgot about the fact that he was supposed to be angry, but before he could say anything he was cut off.

"Don't you even notice your nose is bleeding?"

Arthur wiped his hands across his face and indeed. His hand was covered by large red stains.

"Well, you should have thought of that before you made me fall, you moron!"

"Kessese. No worries! Follow me to my awesome house, I'll get'cha something to wipe it off with!"

"Ehm.. All right." Arthur said a little awkwardly. "A-and it's 'get you', not 'get'cha'!

"Yeah yeah, sure. C'mon, I live pretty close from here!" The boy started walking and Arthur followed him.

"Eh, alright." Said Arthur awkwardly, holding his nose trying o stop the bleeding. "So ehm… What is your name? You haven't told me yet."

The boy grinned. "My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt, the definition of awesome himself! And what's your name? I'm guessing… Sir Eyebrows?"

Arthur turned red. (from anger, that is) "Don't go making up names for people! It's makes you sound stupid and makes you look like an arsehole! …Which you both are by the way."

Gilbert laughed. "You're a funny guy, 'brows!"

"Arthur!"

"What?"

"My name is Arthur."

"Aha, well nice to meet you sir Artie. Your name is just as British as you sound."

"It's _Arthur. _Not Artie." He smiled slightly. He took what Gilbert had said as a compliment.

"So," Gilbert began, "Where do you live? I haven't seen you around here.."

"Oh I eh.. I just moved here." Arthur answered, trying not to go too much into the details.

"Hmm.. Just moved here, huh? Then where do ya live?"

Arthur described the street to him and described what the house looked like, since he forgot the exact address. Gilbert just nodded and until suddenly:

"NO WAY!"

Arthur just blinked at him. "..What?"

"That's where those weirdos live!" He grabbed Arthur by the shoulders. "Did they finally move away?!"

"Who did?"

"Well," Gilbert began, "There used to live four really annoying guys there, the ginger bastard in particular, and now that you live there they must have finally moved out, right?"

"W-Well eh.." Arthur stammered. "I think the guys you are talking about are actually my br-"

"ARTHUR!"

Arthur turned around to see who called his name and saw a tall, red-headed figure coming his way with what seemed like the speed of lightning. He quickly turned back to Gilbert with a somewhat pale face.

"I think that's the weirdo you mean.."

Gilbert's eyes widened. "OH SHI-" He was cut off when he felt an arm around his neck, almost suffocating him. A voice whispered in his ear.

"What have ye done to Arthur? How come he's bleeding? Did ye hit him? Answer!"

"I-I did nothing!"

"Don't lie to me! I could break yer neck right here!" He said, as he tightened the arm a little more.

"N-no I really didn't do anything, it's just a nosebleed I swear!"

Arthur was pulling on Iain's arm, trying to get him to stop.

"It's true Iain! He didn't do anything! It's just that I tripped and eh.. Fell! I fell!"

Iain suspiciously looked from Arthur to Gilbert and then decided to let Gilbert go. Gilbert breathed in relieve. Iain grabbed Gilbert by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes.

"Fine. I'll let ye go this time brat, but don't let me see ye near my little brother again!" Then he easily swung Arthur over his shoulder and walked away with him.

"_I'm sorry" _Arthur mouthed to him as he was carried away by Iain.

Gilbert just watched them leave before retreating home himself. "So they're brothers? That's so unawesome…"

**It's a crappy chapter. Hardly any of the brotherly love the story is supposed to be about… But I wanted His Awesomeness to be in the story, so yea.. Here he is!**

**Happy life~**


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